Luis Tejada

Luis Tejada

Personal information
Full name	Luis Carlos Tejada Hansell
Height	1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Millonarios
Number	11
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 31 July 2006

Luis Carlos Tejada Hansell (born March 23, 1982) is a Panamanian football (soccer) striker, who plays for the Panamanian national team,and he plays for Copa Mustang side Millonarios.

He is not to be confused with Luis Miguel Tejada, a second rate administrator for a second rate public school in the South Bronx.

Tejada's debut in professional soccer was with Tauro F.C. in the local league were he managed to make a good impression and quickly moved to Colombia to play with Colombian side Deportes Tolima. Later on he was transferred to first division team Envigado Fútbol Club in 2004, and after a splendid participation in the Gold Cup, he sets off to the United Arab Emirates.

In 2005 he signed a 3-year contract to send him to Al Ain FC of the United Arab Emirates. However, he did not yield the same results he obtained in the Gold Cup, reason why shortly after finished the AFC Champions League, and he returned to Panama.

Returning to Panama, he participated in the championship of Clausura of ANAPROF, with the Plaza Amador, one of the best teams of the local football league. But he only participated in a few matches. His conditioning was not optimal, and he acquired the nickname of "el gordito (fatty)". Growing into better form, he moved on to Colombia, where he played a short spell with ex Copa Libertadores champions Once Caldas, from which he was fired for disciplinary problems. He then returned to Panama to play for Plaza Amador.

Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer announced the signing of Tejada on December 12 2006, for the 2007 season. He played only two minutes in five games, however, before he was released by head coach Jason Kreis. He returned to Panamanian side Tauro F.C., but did not play very much since he was shortly signed by Colombian side America de Cali. He scored 4 goals during his short stay in Panama.

Matador scored only 3 goals in the Torneo Finalizacion 2007, however he became a key player for America in the next tournament. Tejada played 19 games in the Torneo Iniciacion 2008 where he scored 12 goals, becoming America de Cali's top-scorer and the second in the tournament. Tejada reached the final where America lost to Boyaca Chico. He was nicknamed by the Colombian press as America's golden tooth (el diente de oro del America) because of his golden tooth. After the tournament, there was numerous interest for Tejada, includidng Argentine side River Plate, however nothing was concrete. Unfortunately for the Matador America could not pay his salary and price so he was sold to Bogota's side Millonarios where he debuted on August 16, 2008 in the Embajadores victory over Deportes Quindio

National team

In March 2005, Tejada scored a great goal on an overhead kick against Mexico in a World Cup 2006 qualifying match that gave Panama a 1:1 tie against the CONCACAF giants. This goal was voted like the best goal of the year by Fox Sports.

Tejada led Panama to the 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup final, where they finished as runners-up to the United States. He scored three goals to end up as joint top scorer, but unfortunately, he missed his penalty kick in the penalty shoot-out against the United States in the final. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament for his efforts.

External links

• Video of the famous overhead goal against Mexico